Magnet construction for contactors



July 27, 1937. J. BIERENFELD I 2,087,895

MAGNET CONSTRUCTION FOR GONTACTORS Filed July 16, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l 1 INVENTOR- v g 5saf.,51:rm/a/a AT l' ORNEY 7 s July 27, 1937. J, B|ERENFELD 2,087,895

MAGNET CQNSTRUCTION FOR CONTACTORS Filed July 16. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 azil INVENT\OR v Patented July 27 1931 UN T D STATES PATENT OFFICE MAGNET CONSTRUCTION roa CONTACTORS Josef Bierenteld, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Square D Company, Detroit, Mich.

Application July 16, 1934, Serial No. 735,386

. 9 Claims. (01. 175336) This invention relates to a magnet construction for contactors, such, for instance, as that shown-in the automatic starterdisclosedin the application of Hermon L. Van Valkenburg, filed v July 16, 1934, s. N. 735,440, for Automatic starters,

'floating'manner to the contactor, and in which the locking means for locking the magnet body in operative position is readily detachable from the magnet body to permit the free and easy removal oi the magnet without disturbing other portions of the mechanism, the construction providing access to the locking means directly from the front of the magnet.

In greater detail, objects of this invention are to provide a removably held magnet for contactors, in which the magnet body is held temporarily locked in operative position by spring urged locking means, the'construction permitting the free lifting oi the magnet from the remainder of the apparatus after moving the lockingmeans against the action of their springs and after detaching the armature from ayoke, the locking means snapping back into locking position when the magnet is again inserted in the apparatus,

the construction providing a somewhat floating support for the magnet body to thereby facilitate relative alignment 01' the magnet body and armature.

Further objects are to provide a construction of magnet and supporting means thereforwhich is very compact and permits the mounting oi. the

magnet in a limited space, though, as stated,

allowing the free removal of the magnet for in-' spection or repairs.

Further objects are to provide a magnet construction for contactors, in which the armature is carried in a floating manner by a slidable yoke actuated by the magnet, in which a three-point guiding means is provided for the yoke, and in which thev magnet body is positioned within the yoke and held in a detachable manner, thereby securing a 'compactstructure which is of simple and reliable construction. An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the magnet construction showing it associated with a contactor.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the 56llne2-2of118ure1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevation, with parts broken away, of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is asectional detail on the line 4-4 of Figure 1. 5 Figure 5 is a sectional detail on the line 55 of Figure 1. I

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the electric circuits of the device.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that 10 the device comprises a support or chassis I, which may be of sheet metal, and which is adapted to be positioned within a housing, or box, not shown.

a This support carries a contactor block indicated generally by the reference character 2 and'formed 1 6 of insulating material. If desired, a fiber sheet 3 may be interposed between the contactor block 2 and the chassis I, as shown in Figure 2. This contactor block may be secured to the chassis by means of inset screws 4, see Figure 1. 20 The contactor block'may be provided with barriers 5 and end barriers 6,'providing channel portions open at the top. Between these barriers; the stationary contacts 1 are positioned, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The movable contacts 8 are 25 carried by metal bars 9, which are slidably mounted upon rectangular pins III which readily are molded in place within the insulating transverse bar H, see Figure 2. Helical springs l2 loosely surround the pins l0 and yieldingly urge 30 the contact bars 9 outwardly against stops l3, see Figure 2. y

The insulating bar ll may be formed of a phenol condensate. It is provided with forwardly projecting extensions I4, see Figures 1 and 5, 35 and siich extensions are provided with a T-shaped slot l5 for the reception of the headed ends of the yoke i6, screws l1 passing through the extensions l4 and being threaded into the arms 9117118 yoke I6. 40

The extensions I 4 are also provided with rectangular slide portions I 8, which slidably fit between outwardly turned guiding ears l9, see Figures 1, 3, and 4. v a

The guiding ears I9 are outwardly struck from 5 supports 20 carried by the main support or chassis I. These supports or frame members, see Figures 1 and 2, are also provided with ears 2| to which the control switch'block 22 is secured in any suitable manner, a portion of such control 50 switch block being shown in Figure 2. This control switch block forms no part of the present invention and is disclosed in the above noted co-pending application. The supports 20 are provided with outwardly turned inner portions provided with spaced apertures 23, see Figure 4, within which the feet 2i of spring-pressed latching members 25 are positioned. These latching members 25 are provided with T-shaped heads 26, see Figures 1, 3, and 4, for a purpose hereinafter to appear. Each latching member has a headed pin 21 associated therewith and loosely passing through the supporting member 20 and the latching member 25, see Figure 4. A helical spring 28 loosely surrounds the pin 21 and urges the latching member inwardly.

Theyoke I6 is U-shaped, as previously stated and as may be seen from Figure 1. It is provided with inwardly turned spaced ears 29 and 30, see Figures 1 and 2, between which the laminated armature 3i is loosely pivotally carried. A headed pin or screw 32, see Figure 2, passes loosely through the armature 3i and is threaded into the ear 29, a shoulder being provided adjacent the threaded portion. The armature is thus pivotally and semi-floatingly carried by the transverse portion of the yoke.-

The yoke is guided, as previously described, adjacent the free ends of the arms by means of the members I8 and I9, see Figure 3. The yoke is provided with an apertured tongue 32', see Figure 2, which is guided by a pin 33 carried by an outwardly turned portion of the main support I, see Figure 2.

The magnet body may be of substantially E- shape, as shown in Figure 1, and is formed of laminated material. It has a central pole 34- and a pair of side poles 35. The armature is substantially T-shaped, having faces 36 opposite the ends of the poles 35 and having a central portion 31 which slides within the energizing winding 38 carried by the body portion of the magnet. The poles 35 are preferably provided with shading coils 39, as shown in Figure 1. It is also preferable to provide the interior of themagnet winding with non-magnetic guiding strips 40, as shown in Figure 2, and the outwardly angularly turned ends of these guiding strips may be riveted to an insulating ring or washer 4|, see Figure 2, the rear ends of such strips being held by means of the bolt 42.

The magnet body is detachable or removably held in place by means of the spring-pressed latch members 25. These members fit within notches 43 formed in the sides of the poles 35, with the T-shaped head 26 located above the outer face of the pole members 35, see Figures 1 and 3. The side supports 20 are provided with upstanding shouldered projecting members H, see Figures 3 and 4. The magnet body, therefore, is detachably locked to the support I by the construction just recited, and the magnet consequently is freely removable by merely spreading the latching members 25 apart, the fingers of the operator engaging such latching members.

In removing the magnet, the screw 32, see Figure 2, is removed and the armature is pushed into cohtact with the pole faces of the magnet, thus clearing the ear 30 and allowing the magnet with the armature to be freely lifted from the remainder of the apparatus.

It is preferable to provide a loose fit between the heads 26 and the outer face of the side poles 35 of the body portion of the magnet, so that the magnet is itself semifloating; consequently the magnet and armature can properly -.align themselves so the faces 36 of the armature, see Figure 1, can contact flatly with the end faces of the poles 35.

The contactor and magnet construction are mounted, as shown in Figures, 1 and 2, so that the contactor and magnet are biased by gravity cally shown in Figure 6. The stationary contacts I are bridged by the movable contact bars 9 whenever the winding 38 is energized. This winding is controlled by the stop button 45 and the starter button 46, such latter button being held closed by means described in the above noted application and forming no portion of this invention. The motor or other translating device is indicated by the reference character 41, and thermal overload means by the reference charactor 48.

It will be seen that a novel form of magnet construction has been provided for a contactor in such a manner that the magnet is freely removable and is detachably locked to a supporting member. It will be seen further that this detachable locking means is very simple and is cheap to produce and is easy to operate.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a contactor construction, a support, a magnet body portion, a winding on said magnet body portion, an armature associated With said magnet body portion, said magnet body portion being bodily removably held to said support, and latch means for removably locking said magnet body portion to said support, said latch means remaining in place on said support when said magnet body is removed, said latch means engaging said body portion intermediate the ends of said body portion, said armature being slidably supported from said support independently of saidmagnet body portion.

2. In a device of the class described, a support, a magnet body portion, a winding on said magnet body portion, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, and latch means for removably locking said magnet body portion to said support, said magnet body portion bearing against and supported from said support immediately adjacent said latch means, and an armature movably supported from said support independently of said magnet body portion.

3. In a device of the class described, a support having side frames; a magnet body portion located between said side frames, a winding on said magnet body portion, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, and latch means on opposite sides of said magnet body portion for releasably holding said magnet body portion locked to said side frames.

4 In a device of the class described, a support having spaced, outwardly projecting supporting portions, a magnet body portion normally bearing against said supporting portions, a winding on said magnet body portion, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, and a latch positioned adjacent each of said supporting pore tions for removably locking said magnet body portion to said supporting portions.

5. In a device of the class described, a support having spaced, outwardly projecting supporting portions, a magnet body portion normally bearing against said supporting portions, a winding on said magnet body portion, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, and a spring 75 pressed latch positioned adjacent each of said supporting portions for removably locking said posite sides for receiving said spring pressed latches.

6. In a device of the class described, a support having spaced side frame bars provided with outwardly projecting supporting portions located between. said side frame bars, a magnet body por tion located between said side frame bars and bearing against said supports, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, and spring pressed latches adjacent said supporting portions interlocking with said magnet body por tion for holding said magnet body portion to said supporting portions.

7. In a device of the class described, a support having spaced side frame bars provided with out wardly projecting supporting portions located between said side frame bars, a magnet body portion located between said side frame bars and bearing against said supports, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, and spring pressed latches adjacent said supporting portions interlocking with said magnet body portion for holding said magnet body portion to said supporting portions, said supporting portions having shoulders against which said magnet body portion bears and having reduced fingers projecting from said shoulders, and said magnet body portion having notches on opposite sides for receiving saidv fingers.

8'. In a device of the class described, a support having spaced, outwardly projecting support-ing portions, an E-shaped magnet body portion normally bearing against said supporting portions, a winding on said magnet body portion, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, and spring pressed latch means positioned adjacent each of said supporting portions for removably locking the outer-arms of said E-shaped magnet body portion to said supporting portions.

9. Ina device of the class described, a support,

a removable magnet body portion, a winding on 'said magnet body portion, an armature cooperating with said magnet body portion, latch means normally engaging said magnet body portion for removably locking said magnet body portion tosaid support, said magnet body portion bearing against said support, said support having means spaced apart from each other for determining the position of said magnet body portion, and an armature movably supported from said support independently of said magnet body portion.

JOSEF BIERENF'ELD. 

